UConn is usually pretty selective when it comes to offering scholarships. The fact that the Huskies have verbally extended a scholarship offer to a rising junior prospect, before such prospects can even receive written offers, is a testament to the player's ability.

J.J. Denman, a 6-foot-7, 305-pound offensive tackle from Pennsylvania, now holds verbal offers from UConn, Boston College and Pittsburgh after proving himself on a summer camp tour. He camped at each of those schools, in addition to Rutgers, and apparently that was all the coaches at those respective schools needed to see.

Denman said Boston College is a school that is sticking out for now but he emphasized that it's still early and anything can happen. UConn is a school he will be taking a hard look at in the coming months as he heads into his junior season at Pennsbury High School and beyond.

"UConn's facilities were crazy," Denman said in an interview with UConnReport.com this week. "Their indoor practice field was amazing and everything before it was pretty sweet, too.

"I talked to coach (Randy) Edsall while I was there actually. He's a nice guy. We ended up talking the next day and he offered me."

Though Boston College leads and the other two schools that have offered, UConn and Pitt, are in the hunt, Denman is keeping all of his options open and he's hoping to hear from a few other schools in particular.

"I would like to see some of the Big Ten schools come in, like Ohio State, Iowa, Wisconsin ... those kind of schools with the big offensive lines," he said.

"I grew up in Arkansas watching them. I was there up until about 4th grade or around when Eli Manning was at Ole Miss. I would definitely consider (attending school in) the South, too. I think I'm just going to wait and see who comes along and try to get as many schools as I can."

Denman is preparing for his junior year and his school's first game is on September 3rd, so with camps behind him he probably won't be focusing on the recruiting process too much for the next few months. If he improves as much over the next year as he has every year to date Denman could end up being even more highly regarded than he could have imagined.

"I've definitely improved a lot," he said. "When I was leaving 8th grade and coming into 9th grade I really started working out. I skipped JV and went straight to varsity. When I made that jump I really had to adapt, so I've worked hard."